10 Movies You Totally Didn't Realise Were Racist

By Brydie Lee Kennedy / November 17, 2015

It's definitely a mistake to look for moral guidance from Hollywood. The film industry is still dominated by rich, straight, white men who love telling stories about other rich, straight, white men. They're attempts to make films about people unlike themselves are few and far between and produce decidedly mixed results.

Still, it shouldn't be too much to ask that they not make movies that are filled with offensive racial stereotypes and themes. And yet, it just keeps happening. From Mickey Rooney in Breakfast At Tiffany's to pretty much everything Mike Meyers has ever made, some films wear their racism right out there on their sleeves.

But the following movies are sneakier about it, keeping their racist nonsense buried under good intentions or ostensible comedy or, in a couple of cases, singing and dancing. Read on and have some of your favourite movies ruined by realising that, oops, they're kind of really racist.

10. The Jungle Book

With the live-action version of The Jungle Book set to come out in 2016, it might be time to reevaluate the 1967 cartoon version because it is basically an animated minstrel show. Not that you'd notice that as a child - we all sang along to Bear Necessities without a care in the world. Damn catchy beats. One of the most problematic aspects of the film is that King Louie, the ape king, was believed to be a stand in for the African American jazz musician Louie Armstrong. In fact, all of the ape characters in the films appear to embody extremely racist stereotypes about African Americans. Even more concerning is that they're trying to learn to be like humans, which is a pretty terrible message given that segregation had only ended in America a few years before the film's release.